People lens

ozandrew

[FONT=Geneva, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hey everyone,

I own an EOS 30D and 70-200 2.8 lens. I've been asked to shoot an opening for a state netball league but don't really have a short lens or flash for this. I was just wondering if some of you who have some experience in shooting people could offer me some advice. It's going to be held indoors at a sports club so presumably there will be some lighting but probably not heaps. It'll be group photos and individual candids not the actual action sport itself. I've been tossing up the following:

EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM or the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM and a 580EX flash. Any recommendations for this sort of work?

Is it true that getting some kind of frame to hold the flash off the camera will improve the use of the flash?

Thanks all for your time.
Andrew [/FONT]

Owen

I can recommend the 24-70. It's a beautiful lens.
The 24-105 f/4 is also one to consider. It will give you some extra reach for the games, which you may find handy.

LiquidAir

My guess is that the 24-70 will nicely cover the range of focal lengths you will need, but a lot depeneds on the size of the space you are working in and how densly packed the people are. Mostly I don't find I need IS for shooting events, but there are times when it comes in handy. I'll use it when I want to stop down for DoF and drag the shutter to bring up the ambient level.

Halliday

I for one love my 28-105 3.5-4.5 Canon lens. For the price ($150) it's great all-around lens. An external flash is always useful too.